KJV ORIGINAL
If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses:
Close to the original. Clear modern English.
✦ MADE SIMPLE
If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here as a prisoner while the rest of you go back and take grain to feed your starving families.
⚡ THE BOTTOM LINE
Joseph is testing his brothers' honesty by keeping one as a hostage while sending the others home with food for their hungry families.
📚 Historical Context
This occurs during Joseph's dramatic encounter with his brothers who had come to Egypt to buy grain during a severe famine. Joseph, now a powerful Egyptian official, recognizes his brothers but they don't recognize him - these are the same brothers who had sold him into slavery years earlier. Joseph is testing them to see if they have changed since their betrayal of him.
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